Free National Health Care, eh?

Pajamas TV - Louder With Crowder - PJTV Undercover: Steven Crowder Investigates CanadaCare...Will ObamaCare Be Any Better? - Video

I found Pajama Media Televison (www.pjtv.com) today and I was very impressed with the quality of the content there.

Especially, I was impressed by a 20 minute 'article' exploring the limitations of Free National Health Care, as experienced in Canada. So I blogged the video so you can see it.

Unfortunately, I have since discovered that "The Smallest Minority" has linked to the same URL, over a week ago, for the same reasons. (Also see "Tell me again why GWB was so stupid." Not related, but ... well, maybe.)

So you can go there and see it, or click on the link at the top of the page.

In summary, the reasons why Free national Health Care doesn't serve Canadians well include:

• Waiting periods in emergency rooms are cited in terms of hours, not minutes
• Health Clinics are not open on weekends
• Even if you want a simple procedure, such as a blood test for tetnus, you almost always have to go to a Family Doctor
• Family Doctors are largely unable or unwilling to take new patients. The waiting list here is years
• If you need to see a specialist, expect to wait for a period of over a year
• Waiting to receive necessary medical care may take so long that the condition you originally wished to resolve may have worsened to an extreme degree .... an ailment which could possible be cleared up with an overnight hospital visit may be put off until it can be resolved only with extreme measures (in one cited case, with multiple amputations)
• The waiting list for 'expensive' testing or procedures (such as an MRI) may be years; that period may be shortened because, well, the people who were in line before you died before they could get help
• The good thing is that any treatment you get, if and when you get it, is 'free'; the bad news is that you pay for it in your taxes (Ontario taxes are 50% - 100% higher than California!) even if you don't need it
• More good news: you CAN go to a "Private Caregiver", although the waiting list is still extraordinarily long; the bad news is that (for example) a blood test can cost nearly a thousand dollars. When you can get in.

You may think I'm making this up, or mis-understanding the situation as represented. Well, I'm just reflecting what I've seen on the video. Before you take me to task, please do invest 20 minutes of your time to see the video.

In the mean time, I'll be researching the question independently. I find this all very hard to believe, although I've read (and written about) similar anecdotal evidence.

One thing is for certain: I won't want my congress-critter voting in favor of any National Health Care Bill (by any name) until they have had the time to read it, consider it thoroughly, and discuss it in session.

Obama, however, seems to want this passed before the Summer is over. He doesn't put as much priority on achieving a consensus as he does on having his will confirmed in law.

Again, I'm a cranky old man who resist change instinctively. It may be just me, but I think this whole National Health Care thing sounds a lot like a door-to-door encyclopedia salesman who demands that you make a decision right now.

That kind of deal presupposes that when you look at the contract in the light of day, you'll see it for the charlatanry that it is.

I'm speaking here of Encyclopedia Salesmen and Snake Oil Hucksters, of course.